Hitchens’s razor: is an epistemological razor asserting that the burden of proof regarding the truthfulness of a claim lies with the one who makes the claim, and if this burden is not met, the claim is unfounded, and its opponents need not argue further in order to dismiss it. What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

Occam’s razor: further known as the law of parsimony is the problem solving principle that essentially states that the simplest solution tends to be the correct one. When presented with competing hypotheses to solve a problem, one should select the solution with the fewest assumptions.

Hanlon’s razor: is an aphorism expressed in various ways, including: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Hume’s razor: If the cause, assigned for any effect, be not sufficient to produce it, we must either reject that cause, or add to it such qualities as will give it a just proportion to the effect.

Morton’s fork: is a type of false dilemma in which contradictory observations lead to the same conclusion. Under Henry VII, John Morton was made archbishop of Canterbury in 1486 and Lord Chancellor in 1487. He raised taxation funds for his king by holding that someone living modestly must be saving money and, therefore, could afford taxes, whereas someone living extravagantly obviously was rich and, therefore, could afford taxes.

Newton’s flaming laser sword: It can be summarized as “what cannot be settled by experiment is not worth debating”

Chekhov’s Gun: If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.” Chekhov, master of the short story, gave this advice: If it’s not essential, don’t include it in the story.

Pandora?s Box: A present which seems valuable but which in reality is a curse

Russell’s teapot: is an analogy, formulated by the philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), to illustrate that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon a person making un-falsifiable claims, rather than shifting the burden of disproof to others. Russell specifically applied his analogy in the context of religion. He wrote that if he were to assert, without offering proof, that a teapot, too small to be seen by telescopes, orbits the Sun somewhere in space between the Earth and Mars, he could not expect anyone to believe him solely because his assertion could not be proven wrong. Russell’s teapot is still invoked in discussions concerning the existence of God, and has had influence in various fields and media.